Mark Butler MP

Federal Member for Port Adelaide

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN LIBERALS ARE SINKING OUR SUBMARINES

Date: 29 August 2014

South Australian Liberals continue to fail their home state with Jamie Briggs sneering on Adelaide radio this morning that the Government shouldn’t make a submarine decision “based on parochial needs”.

This comes on top of his threat in May that “Martin Hamilton-Smith certainly won’t get access that other (states) will”.

South Australian Liberals are willing to put billions of dollars in investment and thousands of shipbuilding jobs in the Port Adelaide electorate at risk because of petty party politics.

Before the election, Defence Minister David Johnston stood out the front of ASC in Osborne and promised: ‘We will deliver those submarines from right here at ASC in South Australia. The Coalition today is committed to building 12 new submarines here in Adelaide’.

But now Tony Abbott and Minister Johnston are breaking that promise and South Australian Liberals are cheering them on. Not one single South Australian Liberal is holding Tony Abbott to his pre-election promise.

We’ve had a sneaky, secretive visit by Japanese submarine experts without explanation.

We’ve had a Senate Inquiry condemn Minister Johnston’s decision to exclude Australian companies from tendering to build Australia’s supply ships, a disgraceful decision that will directly result in South Australian jobs being shipped offshore.

South Australia’s Defence industries will contribute $2.5 billion to the state economy and employ more than 38,000 people by 2020.

The state currently holds 25 per cent of the nation's defence projects, including the largest defence project on record, the Air Warfare Destroyer, being built at Osborne in the Port Adelaide electorate.

The thousands of workers at ASC need certainty and not secrecy from this Government, but Tony Abbott’s broken promise on submarines will cost them their jobs and hurt the South Australian economy.

South Australian Liberals need to grow up and get over it.

They need to stop punishing the South Australian defence industry.

They need to stop putting their internal strife and petty, political game-playing ahead of thousands of workers in South Australia’s shipbuilding sector.